User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 47 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 47
  2. Negative: 10 out of 47
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  1. Sep 15, 2017
    9
    Really excited to have this finally come to XBOX One after years of speculation. Not as polished graphically as Divinity Original Sin but a lot more fun and addictive. Love the old school D&D games like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale and this honors them well. Had to get use to the pause and give commands to my party feature versus the turn based combat of D.O.S. but the atmosphere andReally excited to have this finally come to XBOX One after years of speculation. Not as polished graphically as Divinity Original Sin but a lot more fun and addictive. Love the old school D&D games like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale and this honors them well. Had to get use to the pause and give commands to my party feature versus the turn based combat of D.O.S. but the atmosphere and story is far more gripping than the one in D.O.S. Spell management is a little tricky and rest is not possible to heal or to study your spell book without the campfire equipment found at shops and other merchants. Character creation is fairly diverse.

    Its great you can have a party of six adventurers instead of just the two you have in D.O.S and when a party member is not being used you can always find them back at the Black Hound Inn. I have about 15 hours in so far and can't wait to get back to playing it. It can be challenging and you have to go back and keep trying different tactics to defeat different enemies but its not enough to make you rage quit like say Dark Souls caused many, not myself, to do. Party management and character action commands have been made very easy with the XBOX One controls.

    I will be finishing this and then going back to finish D.O.S
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  2. Sep 11, 2017
    5
    I was excited for this game to come to console. I am a huge old-school D&D/ RPG fan and with the comparisons of this game to D:OS, which launched at the same time on PC, I couldn't wait for this to port. D:OS was in my top 4 favorite games of 2015 with Fallout, Witcher and Tomb Raider.....have more than 500 hours in it. Based on my score you can tell I was sadly disappointed.....D:OS is aI was excited for this game to come to console. I am a huge old-school D&D/ RPG fan and with the comparisons of this game to D:OS, which launched at the same time on PC, I couldn't wait for this to port. D:OS was in my top 4 favorite games of 2015 with Fallout, Witcher and Tomb Raider.....have more than 500 hours in it. Based on my score you can tell I was sadly disappointed.....D:OS is a vastly better game.

    In its defense I note that it does offer a reasonably large world with many NPCs, stories, quests, etc. That said, the only true positive to me was this is an actual RPG...you have significant/ meaningful ability to customize your character.....

    ....it all goes down hill from there....firstly, as with all games that are made for PC, it is done on a shoestring budget....there is no such thing as even a AA pc game....there is no polish here.....but games like D:OS that have depth and charm easily make up for it.

    While you can pick sex, race, class, background, ect, all of it has very little meaning as....
    ....almost all weapons/ armor are virtually identical bland copies....you may literally be playing with the same weapon/ armor in hour 50 you were using in hour 5....massive fail
    ...worse, the other gear (ring, helmet, neck, gloves, etc.) all come with buffs, but none stack, so you wind up buffing stats you never use.....and there is a plethora of some items, and a dearth f others, so you pray to the rng gods that you get a different buff in a different piece or its meaningless...
    ....being a wizard/ monk/ cypher, etc would be great..except all the spells are terribly bland....you can pick 2 spells each level and I truly struggled to pick one each time...
    ....combat is beyond boring...because the weapons and spells hardly improve throughout the game, combat takes forever...pew pew.....you can either try to micromanage 6 characters in real time or just sit back and wait 10 minutes for the fight t resolve and then do it all over again...
    ...while there are tons of questlines, I found none interesting....no joke, I fell asleep playing this game more times than almost all other games in the last few years combined....have energy drinks ready!

    Sigh, horribly sad; going to play D:OS again just to wash the taste of this game from my mind...and wait for D:OS2 to some out :(
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  3. Jun 16, 2019
    4
    Un jeu de rôle kickstarté certes mais développé par le vétéran Obsidian qui a souvent soufflé le chaud et le froid en la matière : on pouvait donc s'attendre à tout ou... à rien, car il s'agit tout de même d'un jeu de rôle à "l'ancienne" en vue de loin comme au temps des premiers Fallout ou Arcanum ou bien... Torment !

    Peu de moyens donc que l'on a comblés avec beaucoup de bavardages...
    Un jeu de rôle kickstarté certes mais développé par le vétéran Obsidian qui a souvent soufflé le chaud et le froid en la matière : on pouvait donc s'attendre à tout ou... à rien, car il s'agit tout de même d'un jeu de rôle à "l'ancienne" en vue de loin comme au temps des premiers Fallout ou Arcanum ou bien... Torment !

    Peu de moyens donc que l'on a comblés avec beaucoup de bavardages... mais je vais y revenir. Le moteur Unity utilisé est tout pourri (ça ne date pas d'hier tous les jeux nazes -indépendants- boulottés avec ce machin à deux balles) et pas le choix, il faudra faire avec. Avec les temps de chargement par exemple, très nombreux et longuets, qui mettent bien les nerfs en pelote (un "jeu" de patience sans doute... en fait !).

    Notons néanmoins que les environnements en 2D sont en partie sauvés par une jolie patte artistique et que globalement l'interface sur la console est bien pensée. Si ce n'est l'inventaire qui n'est pas commun au groupe (à part la réserve) et s'avère rapidement un joyeux bordel... assez déprimant. Et bordélique. Les combats en temps pausé sont tout aussi bordéliques et inintéressants mais heureusement en réduisant au maximum la difficulté, on laisse le boxon en pilotage automatique, ce qui n'est pas plus mal ma foi !

    Il reste alors l'histoire et beaucoup de bavardages... notons d'ailleurs une excellente traduction française, irréprochable à cet égard. Une aventure et un monde assez intrigants en tout cas pour susciter la curiosité et l'envie d'en savoir plus, jusqu'à la fin. Mais d'une part on regrette un manque de clarté dans l'intrigue et d'autre part, un bourrinage assez récurrent qui oblige à bousiller tout ce qui passe ou dépasse : plutôt dommage pour un jeu aussi bavard.

    Bref, on est loin d'un Tides of Numénéra (le nouveau Torment) qui a su mettre à profit le dépaysement de son histoire (et ses bavardages encore plus nombreux !) au profit des choix et des décisions impliquant vraiment le joueur et lui permettant d'éviter les combats autant que faire se peut.

    Sur la version Xbox, on a droit aux deux extensions de la Marche Blanche dont la première est plutôt satisfaisante mais dont la seconde devient un peu fouillis et encore sujette à de grands "nettoyages" de monstres.

    Finalement, force est de constater que tout cela est un peu raté... mais que ça passe le temps quand même. De façon décidément trop médiocre pour se sustenter, hélas.
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  4. Apr 2, 2019
    8
    Let me be frank: As someone who generally prefers games that are far more action-oriented than the CRPGs of the days of yore, Pillars of Eternity is incredibly special - it took someone who played about 5 minutes of Icewind Dale and hated it, and allowed them to see the light.

    Pillars of Eternity is a fantasy game that is immersive in a way I have never seen before. My character feels
    Let me be frank: As someone who generally prefers games that are far more action-oriented than the CRPGs of the days of yore, Pillars of Eternity is incredibly special - it took someone who played about 5 minutes of Icewind Dale and hated it, and allowed them to see the light.

    Pillars of Eternity is a fantasy game that is immersive in a way I have never seen before. My character feels as though he is a projection of myself within a fantasy world, and acts similarly to how I would. Despite the somewhat limited models for character creation, the overwhelming number of choices in other areas provide so much opportunity to create a character that tells a story. Additionally, there are no baseless restrictions as to which race can play as which class - finally, unlike in a game like Icewind Dale, I could have a dual-wielding elven Paladin! This freedom is probably this game's greatest strength.

    The combat is not something that I found overly engaging - I did appreciate that everything happened in real time, rather than in turns. However, this is a game that requires solely strategy in combat (as opposed to quick reflexes), and that is simply not something that appeals to me. Thankfully, Story Time mode allows me to keep combat simple, leave me feeling powerful despite the low level of difficulty, and let me prioritize role-playing over min/maxing. However, I did find that even on Story TIme mode, I did run into some challenges with characters I wasn't focused on building correctly - this isn't necessarily a fault, however. I imagine it was hard to balance challenge and roleplaying in that regard, and I give credit to the developers for balancing difficulty and role-playing as much as possible.

    The only fault this game absolutely deserves is the outrageously long load times, which worsen as the game progresses. They are some of the worst I have ever seen in any game, and are somewhat frequent. While these loading times seem to be exclusive to the console, I am rating the console version. And let me tell you, these load times are so egregious that they keep me from revisiting the game. I could complain about there only being 5 races in the game, but that does feel like I'm scraping the barrel when it comes to complaints.

    Overall, this is a roleplayer's dream. If you have ever had a passing interest in Dungeons and Dragons, or ever daydreamt about roleplaying a fantasy character, do yourself a favour and play this game.
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  5. Dec 21, 2019
    4
    The game clearly does not belong on the console.
    The font is too small and the graphics are stale. But the story is right.
    Since it is funded by Kickstarter, you have to turn a blind eye.
  6. Nov 22, 2019
    5
    Real simple name of game should be pillars of eternal loading screen. Very basic game nothing fancy about it, hood story line but with todays technology there is no reason to need a loading screen every 5 mins or less that takes anywhere from 1-2 mins. But gets better that many loading screens and ever quest has you running all over the place just to talk to this guy or grab this item. NoReal simple name of game should be pillars of eternal loading screen. Very basic game nothing fancy about it, hood story line but with todays technology there is no reason to need a loading screen every 5 mins or less that takes anywhere from 1-2 mins. But gets better that many loading screens and ever quest has you running all over the place just to talk to this guy or grab this item. No kidding i did one quest like 1 combat sceen that took 30 secs but spent over 15 mins of loading from one area to the next. Expand
  7. Aug 23, 2020
    10
    Oldschool und trotzdem modern! Ein traditionelles Rollenspiel in einem zeitgemäßen Gewand, das ebenso famos erzählt wie taktisch fordert
  8. Apr 28, 2020
    9
    Muy buen RPG. Al estilo de los clasicos Baldur's gate de pc. Buena trama y secundarias de alto nivel. Otro gran trabajo de Obsidian.
  9. Jul 11, 2021
    7
    Pillars of Eternity is a huge achievement in world building. It has a game ruleset that closely mirrors dungeons and dragons, but is different. Most spells and enemies in PoE have close classic dnd analogs alongside others that are quite original. The excellent combat system uses a formula of deflection and resistance thresh-holds along with penetration rules that takes something fromPillars of Eternity is a huge achievement in world building. It has a game ruleset that closely mirrors dungeons and dragons, but is different. Most spells and enemies in PoE have close classic dnd analogs alongside others that are quite original. The excellent combat system uses a formula of deflection and resistance thresh-holds along with penetration rules that takes something from the original Fallout, and in my estimation the combat is more robust and better balanced than dnd 3.5 or 4th edition.

    Playing the game on the highest difficulty is very tactical, and requires many considerations in spacing, damage, and enemy types. Enemies aren't based on level scaling like some lazy rpg games. There are different variants of enemies that come at higher levels. The combat is almost as good as Divinity Original Sin 2, which is the gold standard. Pathing is problematic, as a lot of times characters get stuck running if someone else is in the way, or take a much different path than you were expecting, which can be a problem since a lot of the fights are delicate.

    The writing ranges from serviceable to pretty good, and there is a lot of it. It feels a bit like lore-dumping at the start of the game as all sorts of gods, places, and events get thrown at you.

    Ending was a little too drawn out. Wordy lore dumps. The game tries to be Planescape at the end with the emotional weight, but fails. There are several times where they do the Planescape thing of going through each of your party members and reaffirming their motivations. There are too many last minute soliloquys from distraught party members in the last dungeon. After a while I just wanted them to STFU already with their existential angst. We're here at the end already, and it's time to kick some ass.

    Last scene with the main baddie is a poor imitation of the last confrontation in Planescape: Torment, right down to each party member being questioned and adding in their devotional support. These party members just won't shut their yaps already. They're as needlessly chatty as a JRPG.

    Console version is pretty buggy. It feels unoptimized as loading times are very slow, and sometimes the game experiences memory leaks that crash or greatly slow down the game. Achievements on the xbox are completely bugged as well, and any achievement that is based on counters won't unlock unless you complete them without closing the game, which is difficult because the game will crash after a while. This is an 8/10 game that is brought down to 7/10 due to bugs.
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  10. May 18, 2022
    7
    the game isn't terrible but it has a few flaws that prevent it from being a great game.the game isn't terrible but it has a few flaws that prevent it from being a great game. I'm going to post this for both consoles, as the next gen consoles like ps5 and xbox series x resolve the loading times issues that a lot mention as a negative, that doesn't factor for me as a negative. My complaintsthe game isn't terrible but it has a few flaws that prevent it from being a great game.the game isn't terrible but it has a few flaws that prevent it from being a great game. I'm going to post this for both consoles, as the next gen consoles like ps5 and xbox series x resolve the loading times issues that a lot mention as a negative, that doesn't factor for me as a negative. My complaints with the game are in regards to the story and design

    First, the game makes a lot of references to the lore that almost makes you feel like you should already know all of this stuff. It may be in best interest to watch a story recap that avoids possible spoilers to explain the lore/background. Also, the game doesn't do a very good job of doing dynamic storytelling, instead it's just conversations of text with no voice acting for the most part or reading the books/scrolls that you find. There's very few cutscenes that present the story. Also, the story is very vague for the most part where there's no sense of urgency to go through the story, and some of the side quests/tasks are easily skippable/boring. I think the biggest issue is that you don't really connect with the characters or factions in Act 2, and when you finish Act 2, the pacing of this game is just bizarre as Act3/4 are just like a few hours and then you finish the game. Basically, it's just hard to even care about the story/lore. It's even more impacted when the main villain and major plot twist doesn't even really shock me as again there's no set up for this until last the last hour of gameplay
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Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Sep 29, 2017
    85
    Pillars of Eternity Complete Edition is a big surprise on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Somehow the developer succeeds in the way the game is played on a controller. And that is a huge compliment.
  2. Sep 26, 2017
    90
    Pillars of Eternity responds so good on PS4 and Xbox One. It's a great port with a good controller adaption and a fine optimization. So you need a new life if you buy the game: you get started hours and hours without sleep.
  3. Sep 20, 2017
    87
    Obsidian takes the legacy of Baldur's Gate with a role playing game that will keep us a entertained for hours. After the release in PC, this console edition comes with a lot of content and a gorgeous graphic design.